Daggers and Lies
by dragnclaw
Summary: [ZxK] Oneshot. Even though he betrayed her and all she stood for in the cave beneath Ba Sing Sei, she forgave him when he and his uncle joined the Gaang a month after said incident. For that was the nature of Water: to adapt and heal, to begin anew..


Title: Daggers and Lies

**Title: **Daggers and Lies  
**Genre: **Romance/Tragedy...I'm not too sure.  
**Rating: **T  
**Pairings:** (singsong voice) I'm not telling... Should be easy to figure out.  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, and probably never will. I am not profiting from this in any material way.

**Beta'd by:**Vidar5 (on deviantART)

**Dedicated to:**Vidar5 (Happy Belated Birthday!)

* * *

Even though he betrayed her and all she stood for in the cave beneath Ba-Sing-Sei, she forgave him when he and his uncle joined the Gaang a month after said incident. For that was the nature of Water: to adapt and heal, to begin anew.

She sought to begin a friendship with the marked man, for she believed, no matter what the others said, that he was marked as one who was capable of doing great things. She showed him, little by little, that he was not the failure he thought he was. As he slowly discovered the good inside of him, their friendship grew. While he trained the Avatar in firebending, she taught him about his heart, and that not all was lost, for hope and light could always be rekindled.

As the impending battle for the fate of the world neared, their friendship grew stronger, and maybe into something more. Secret smiles, and hidden looks was all that it took. Although they both claimed it was nothing, a certain Earthbender, and an elderly Firebender were the only two that truly knew.

Together, they were invincible, for they strengthened each other. She made him feel at peace, and enabled him to let go and summon the blue fire, and he taught her how to truly fight, using the fire in her heart.

On the day of the fateful battle, they shared a simple kiss, as if to say goodbye, for no one knew who would live and who would die. Neither of them would have guessed that it was the beginning of the end.

Surprisingly, the Avatar did not defeat the Fire Lord. After a long and grueling battle, where sometimes the Gaang had the advantage, and sometimes the Fire Lord had the advantage, the airbender was severely injured by an underhanded attack from the Fire Lord. Just as the Fire Lord was about to kill the Avatar, he was struck by lightning.

They all would have died, were it not for the Fire Princess, and her two friends, the dagger-wielder and the acrobat. Of course, the Fire Princess slew the Fire Lord for her own selfish needs. The dagger-wielder and the acrobat only followed because they knew they had to if they valued their lives.

In turn, the Fire Princess was slain by her brother with her own lightning. The dagger-wielder and the acrobat were spared, as they had admitted they only followed the Fire Princess because they had no other choice. And so this tale would have a happy ending, was it not for the dagger wielder.

She planted the seeds of doubt in the now Fire Lord's mind, and clouded his judgment. Slowly, she managed to turn him against his heart, by spreading lies about the waterbender he loved.

Many months had passed, and the Fire Lord was captured by the web of lies the dagger-wielder had woven, and left the waterbender. He eventually married the dagger-wielder, but not of his free-will. Although, it pained her, she kept the Fire Lord enamored with her, through the use of various herbs and potions that made him forget the waterbender.

One night, several years later, he walked in on a conversation between the dagger-wielder and the acrobat, where he heard the truth spilled from his wife's lips. He learned of the potions she had been using on him and the web of lies she wove, and suddenly, his mind was clear for the first time in ages.

He left the dagger wielder in search of his waterbender, whom he discovered he still loved after all these years, only to find that the person he knew died long ago, of a broken heart.


End file.
